WesternU to Open $5 M AIDS Research Facility

Source: WesternU News Release via Academica | December 4, 2014

Western University has announced plans to establish a new $5 M facility dedicated to the study of pathogens such as HIV/AIDS at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Researchers at the facility, to be called The Imaging Pathogen and Knowledge Translation Facility, will use advanced imaging technology to track viruses, bugs, and treatments in lab animals without having to rely on dissections. “This type of facility doesn’t exist anywhere in the world,” said researcher Eric Arts. Arts added that he expects that the new building, which will replacing outdated existing pathogen containment facilities at WesternU, will enable the institution to attract more leading researchers. “We haven’t been able to do the imaging work,” said Greg Dekaban, who had been involved in the creation of a containment facility at WesternU in the late 1980s. “I’m really pleased to see this re-birth.”